Stein On Lakers, Raptors, Marion, Hickson, Kaman

It's Friday afternoon, which means another installment of Marc Stein's Weekend Dime at ESPN.com. In addition to writing about the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, Stein shares a few trade rumors. Let's check them out….

  • If the Lakers were to acquire Kirk Hinrich or Leandro Barbosa, they would want the Hawks or Raptors, respectively, to take on salary. However, neither Atlanta or Toronto is interested in doing so. The Lakers would have to use their $8.9MM trade exception and accept the luxury-tax consequences if they were to deal for either player.
  • The Raptors are also unwilling to take on salary in a deal for Jose Calderon.
  • The Mavericks aren't currently shopping Shawn Marion, and don't intend to start clearing out the necessary cap space to make a run at top free agents until after the season. One source told Stein there's "no chance" the Mavs trade Marion this month, even though there may be potential suitors.
  • J.J. Hickson is being aggressively shopped by the Kings.
  • The Hornets have been telling teams that Chris Kaman won't be bought out after March 15th if the club can't find a trade partner. Since New Orleans is still owned by the league, that may not be an idle threat. A number of teams, including the Heat, are hoping Kaman is bought out, since they don't have the trade assets necessary to acquire the big center.
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